The Top 10 Things New Teachers Should Know by Catherine Wilcoxson, Ph.D.

I thought that today i would use someone elses work.
I thought it was nice and every teacher should know it.

1.

Don’t worry so much about doing the right thing. There is no one right

way. You must determine what works best with your personality, your students,

and school policies.

2.

Relax. Get to know your students. Listen, empathize, and above all be

patient. Your students are great people. Let them know that you care about them

and their education.

3.

Teaching is hard work. It is much more work than you ever thought

possible. It is essential that you are organized and use your time efficiently.

Beginning teachers are generally surprised at the amount of time it takes to plan

effectively.

4.

Standards cannot be ignored and should not be feared. There are

pressures of test scores and state standards that must be met. Standardized tests

are often used to determine school and district performance, allocate funds, and

gain public approval. These test scores may even be published. Look at the

standards as an aid to good teaching.

5.

Write objectives that focus on student learning, not on today’s task.

For example, “Build a model of a dam” is a task while “Simulate the principle

of how dams work” is what you really want students to learn. Focus on what

you really expect students to learn and to be able to do. Thinking about the

criteria for student success before giving an assignment will help you determine

your expectations.

6.

Smile, and do so frequently. Forget the adage, “Don’t smile until

Christmas.” Smiling and demonstrating a sense of humor will not compromise

your authority. You may be the only adult who smiles or greets an individual

student warmly today. You may never know the importance of those smiles or

other expressions of caring.

7.

Respect your students. Treat your students as intelligent humans beings.

Avoid categorizing them as lazy, bright, unorganized, etc. Rather, look for each

student’s unique qualities. Do not allow put-downs or sarcasm in your

classroom. Show by example that every comment is valued and must be

constructive or helpful to others.

8.

Believe in your students even if they don’t believe in themselves. Treat

students as valued members of society. Give them hope and confidence that they

can develop as strong individuals. Giving students answers or taking over and

doing an experiment or activity for them leads to learned helplessness. The

students begin to feel incompetent and doubt their ability to succeed.

9.

Don’t isolate yourself. New teachers are often overwhelmed with the

demands of their first teaching job, fear of failure, and uncertainty about the best

course of action. Compounding this situation can be a feeling of isolation and

the need to talk about work and the problems you have encountered. It is

essential that beginning teachers become proactive in developing a support

system.

10.

It is not appropriate to teach the way we were taught. Chances are that

your students are growing up in a world completely different from the one you

grew up in. Technology, lifestyles, economics, and many other factors have

created a different world than when you were in school. Students at this level are

still curious, imaginative, enthusiastic, and talkative.

 This is just the highlites if you want to read more heres the website:
http://www.teachers2be.org/images/main/general/Top_Ten_Things_Teachers_Should_Know_2013.pdf

A Jane Austen Education

William Deresiewicz is a Jane Austen scholar and has written a book on how Austen's novels have effected his life.  One interesting insight that he gives is how a male reader interprets novels that have a mainly female audience.  He said that he was resistant to reading the books because the main characters were women and he believed that the novels did not necessarily pertain to him.  When he finally did read them, he found out just how much they had to do with him.  He came to the books with fresh eyes and did not feel like a typical Jane Austen reader might with one of the main messages of all the books being about marriage.  He was able to see the things that were separate from marriage - how to grow up, how to have a good friendship.  The books helped him mature in life and in his own relationships.  Deresiewicz then discusses the differences between lovers of Pride and Prejudice and lovers of Jane Eyre.  He says that it could be possible for readers to love both completely different novels and that books bring out different aspects of the reader.  I think that it is important for students to see different aspects of novels and to understand different views of how readers perceive them.  I want students to be open to explain their interpretation of a character or a scene or an entire book. 

National Autism Awareness Month 2013

Since im going to be a special ed teacher and we are currently in The National Autism Awareness Month for 2013, I decided to blog about it.

 

Monday, April 1

and ends on

Tuesday, April 30

But to some it never ends.

My cousin has autism and strugles with it everyday. I wish to be a special ed teacher to help people like my
cousin and others to make it in this world.

Heres a little video if you wish to watch it wasa donated to Autism Speaks Autism Tissue Program involved
in visually stunning advancement in brain research. It was intriguing so i thought i would share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NMfp13Uug&feature=player_embedded

Thanks to post-mortem donations, Autism Speaks Autism Tissue Program was able to provide the Stanford University researchers with the brain tissue of an individual affected by autism. Using it, they traced the paths of individual nerve cells and their connections

In order to highlight the growing need for concern and awareness about autism, the Autism Society has been celebrating National Autism Awareness Month since the 1970s. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity for everyone to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community.
The Autism Awareness Puzzle Ribbon is the most recognized symbol of the autism community in the world. Autism prevalence is now one in every 88 children in America. Show your support for people with autism by wearing the Autism Awareness Puzzle Ribbon – as a pin on your shirt, a magnet on your car, a badge on your blog, or even your Facebook profile picture - and educate folks on the potential of people with autism!

Limit teaching to four hours a day, says union

This is not a pod cas but i found it on the news and was interested.


Teachers have called for the time they spend teaching pupils to be capped at 20 hours a week – four hours a day.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) passed a motion on Tuesday demanding a new working week of 20 hours' teaching time, up to 10 hours of lesson preparation and marking, and five hours of other duties, including time spent inputting data and at parents' evenings.
This would mark a drastic reduction in teachers' hours. In the past year, the number of hours teachers work has dramatically risen as a result of pressure from the government and the school inspectorate, teachers claimed at the NUT's annual conference in Liverpool.
They said they had no time to spend with their children or to eat lunch and complained that they often worked past midnight.
Most primary school teachers work more than 50 hours a week during term time, while secondary school teachers work for about 49 hours, the conference heard.
A current agreement between schools and unions states that teachers should spend time on "any reasonable activity" their headteacher instructs. There is no fixed limit on the number of hours teachers work a week, although full-time staff must be available for just over 32 hours. The contract between unions and schools states that teachers must be available to work "such reasonable additional hours as may be necessary to enable the effective discharge of their professional duties".
Richard Rose, a teacher from Cambridgeshire, told the conference there was "no time to eat, think or go to the toilet" in the working day. He said many teachers sent emails after midnight because there was no other time to do this. His colleagues had little time to spend with their children. "It's come to something that teachers don't have time to look after their own children," he said.

facebook

On my pod cast the people were talking about how safe facebook relly was. Although most of us know that facebook can and does get hacked all the time, like by my friend, we also know how to be safe, but for the students that we are going to teach that is another story. They havent experienced the things we have yet and dont know whats around the corner. I believe that it the parents should telk to their kids before they make a facebook but should also look after that acount with thier kids.
 I looked online at what you can do and found of fox news this:
most out of your Facebook experience.

1. Understanding your privacy settings.

One of the most important things you can do is familiarize yourself with Facebook's privacy settings And revisit them periodically. As Facebook adds new features, it makes decisions about settings which you may or may not like.

2. Don’t friend people you don’t know.

Don't know all the people you're linked to on Facebook? Then why are you linked to them?
It should be obvious, but know the people you're friends with -- and sexy Russian spy or not, it doesn’t matter how attractive their picture appears. Criminals often use fake profiles to send spam, or worse, steal personal information.
Besides, a recent memo uncovered by a privacy watchdog showed that federal agents were encouraged to befriend people on social networks like Facebook so they could spy on them. That person you don't know? Who knows what they're up to?

3. Limit the use of applications.

Think twice about taking the next celebrity quiz that pops up in your news feed.
The Wall Street Journal revealed that many of Facebook’s most popular applications -- including the massive hits Farmville and Mafia Wars -- were transmitting personal user information to outside servers. Some of these companies were accused of collecting information through several apps and then selling it to ad firms.

4. Protect your location.

Location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla are all the rage; even Facebook has its own version, called Facebook Places. While such services can be fun, there are numerous underlying risks.
Because of people's willingness to share and the wealth of applicable information, Michael Fraser, a “reformed burglar” working for the BBC, described Facebook as “Internet shopping for burglars.”
Frank Groeneveld, Barry Borsboom, and Boy van Amstel created the site PleaseRobMe.com to spread awareness of a very serious issue. Their site used Twitter’s search function to display the addresses of people who weren’t home – all based on easily accessible public information.
Once they proved their point, the site was shut down. But the issue remains – people need to be wary of their locational privacy. So how can you use these services while still protecting yourself and others?

5. Don’t overshare.

What's the best way to preserve your privacy? Be conservative with what you share. Things like your home address, your family members, and your birthday are all easy pickings for identity thieves. It's harder to retract information than to simply not share at all.

Funny things that happen

Today i decided to post differnt storys about teachers.

Think Before You Speak

When I work with kids, I often exaggerate talents. For example, I might say that a kid is a "master stapler" or, when asked for the 90th time how I can fold so straight, refer to myself as a "professional paper folder." One day, I was engaged in one of those verbal power struggles with an especially precocious 7th grader. Too tired to argue and needing to move forward with the lesson, I sighed and said, "Connor, I give up. You win. You're a Master Debater." Twenty-eight wide-eyed adolescents stared at me in a long second of silence, before bursting into hysterical laughter. Needless to say, they wouldn't drop that one until June.

 

Nice Pants

My school uses a character program called Great Expectations. One of my responsiblities was to greet each of my fourth grade students at the door each morning. Last fall, as I was getting ready for work I selected a pantsuit that had a "jungle" type print on the pants. As I greeted my class that morning, Chris greeted me with a big smile and said, "NICE pants Ms.Plum!" His tone was one of friendly sarcasism. When we got into the class I wanted to use this as a great example of sarcasm, so I asked Chris to repeat to the class exactly what he said and be sure to use the same tone of voice. He willingly complied. Of course, the class couldn't believe he had told me that! One of the girls was frantically waving her hand and saying, "Ms. Plum! Ms.Plum!" I called on her and she anxiously reassured me that, "Ms. Plum, I like your pajamas!" Her well-meant "compliment" caused me a moment of uncontrollable laughter as well as the rest of the class. After composing myself and the class, I told the class, "That's it! We are NOT going on the safari now! We will have to stay at school at work!" (Of course, as fourth graders, they said later, "Ms. Plum, were we really going on a safari today??"

I switched to 6th grade midway through the year and when we had the word compliment as the word of the week, I used this story to illustrate the difference between sarcasm and genuine compliments. They laughed at the
story and understood the intent!
Shelley
Bristow, OK

Bad Ideas
      Now its my time to tell a story. Two years ago my PALS teacher decided to clean her room and have her students help. When we were cleaning under and in one of her couchs we found a condom wrapper yes it was empty. Everyone broke into a laughing fit. That joke never stoped even after the year was over.

7 Ways to Bring Apps, Gadgets, Online Services Into School Classrooms

1. Track Attendance and Behavior: Using an app is a simple way to not only keep tabs on student attendance, but there are also software programs that can help you track behavior, manage assingments  and more.
2.Use Devices for Collaboration: Engage in virtual online presentations, taking advantage of video or voice chat functions to connect with experts, peers, mentors and other classrooms worldwide. Use tablets and i pads instead of papper.
3.Make Learning Fun: There are a number of online programs, games and apps that are designed by educators which teach science, geography, history, math and more to kids in a fun, engaging way.
4.Make Technology the Medium, Not the Focus: Focus on technology as a tool for performing other tasks. Use a presentation program to teach basic technology concepts while secretly keeping the focus on verbal and public speaking skills.
5.Connect with Families: Many classrooms use centralized websites as way for teachers to communicate directly with parents, and also for parents to stay in touch with each other and share information relevant to the class.
6.Record Lectures and Notes: Use webcams or even audio recording to track lectures and lessons to allow students who miss them to view programs later, or to be used as study review tool when the it's time for tests and quizzes.
7.Use eBooks and Multimedia Editions: There are many benefits to using eBooks instead of real-life books that range from cutting down on costs to also being able to ensure material is up to date and having access to a wider range of reference tools.

We have been talking about this in class so i thought it was a good idea to blog about it. I found this not on a news podcast.